Capital and Income

"Live long and prosper."
--Spock (Star Trek)

Nice graph showing the relationship between capital/worker and income/worker.

Any country wishing to improve its standard of living should be doing all it can to free markets and encourage capital formation (i.e., saving). It should avoid policies that deter capital formation--such as lowering interest rates to boost spending and consumption as well as taxing capital and gains from capital.

Unfortunately, this is precisely what the US and other 'developed' nations are doing.